Base exchange water treating equipment



Jan. 25,1949- c. HUNGERFORD, JR, ETAL 2,460,011

BASE EXCHANGE WATER TREATING EQUIPMENT Filed April 14, 1945 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan-25. 1949 c. HUNGERFORD, JR., ET AL. 2,460,011

` I BASE EXCHANGE WATER THETING EQUIPMENT Flod April 14, 1945 8 Sheests-SheeTI l2 )L f, ATTORNEYS c. HUNGERFORQ, JR., ETAL V2,460,011 BASE EXCHANGE WATER TREATING EQUIPMENT medApm 14, 1945 Jan. 25, 1949.

8 Shee'tAs-Sheet 3 AT oRNEYS Jah 25. 1949- c. HUNGERFORD, JR., ErAL 2,460,011

BASE EXCHANGE WATER TEEATING EQUIPMENT l Filed April 14. 1945 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 Jan 25. 1949- c. HuNGERFoRD, JR., ET AL v2,460,011 BASE EXCHANGE WATER TREATING EQUIFPMENT Filed April 14, 1945 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 Jan- 25, 1949 I 'c. HUNGERFORD, JR., ErAl. 2,460,011

' I BASE EXCHANGE WATER TREATING EQUIPMENT med mm1 14', 194s 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 lll/.gi ti( l, f//l/lln n 79 gums Hdl can. ENTo S zu ATT ORNEYS Jan 25, 1949- c. HUNGERFORD, JR., ETAL BASE EXCHANGE WATER ,TREATING EQUIPMENT a shuts-sheet 7 Filed April 14, 1945 Jjan. 25, 1949.

C. HUNGRFORD, JR., ETAL BASE EXCHANGE WATER TREATING EQUIPMENT Filed April 14, 1945 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Patented Jan.'25, 1.9 49

BASE EXCHANGE ws'rln 'rREA'rmG EQUIPMEN I Churchill Hungerford, Jr.,

lWenonali, and John G. Reutter, Clayton,.N. J., assignors to Hungerford & Terry, Inc., Clayton, N.

oi' Delaware J., a corporation Application April `14, 1945, Serial No. 588,386 16 Claims. (Cl.'21024) This invention relates to water treating equipment and is particularly concerned with systems which employ a base exchange medium. f Systems of this kind are typified by-the familiar water softening apparatus which, as is well known in the art, requires 4a tank for the base exchange material and, in complete installations, must also include means for supplying a regenerating material, customarily a brine or salt solution. We wish it to be understood, however, that most of the l0 features of our invention are by no means to be limited to the art of Water softening because they can be employed in various other water treatingv systems involving the use of either brine, acid or alkaline solutions, Nevertheless, for the sake of 'l5 simplicity in disclosure, the present embodiment of the invention has been directed speciiically to the art of water softening with the understanding that the constructions disclosed are applicable equally well to other types of Water treat- 20 ing systems.

In addition to the base exchange material and the regenerating material, water treating systems require suitable piping, valves, fittings and the like in order to control the flow of the fluids through the various circuits which are necessary to supply treated Water, to eiect washing, regeneration or rinsing operations, as well as to dispose of waste Water, brine, and/or other solutions.

The principal objects of the invention are as follows:

1. To improve the ow control mechanism in such a way as to eliminate entirely, or at least to reduce to a minimum, the possibility of cross contamination among the various circuits;

2. To provide a simplified central control mechanism for all of the uid circuits;

B. To provide improved poppet valve mechanism for the several circuits arranged so that the poppet valves all tend to seat in the direction of the ow which greatly aids in reducing and minimizing the problems incident to leakage and cross contamination;

4. To provide removable valve seats for the poppet valves;

5. To provide improved mechanism for reducing the rate of ow in the rinsing position in order to avoid wasteful use of brine;

6. To divide the various poppet valves into two seriesor groups one of which is placed in what we have termed a raw water receiving unit. and the other of which in what we refer to as a water disposal unit-the two units being entirely separated from' but closely adjacent to each other with 5c 'and make it possible to cessibility, convenience the stems of the poppet valves in one unit arranged in opposed relationship to the stems of the valves in the other unit;

7. To provide a construction whereby the camshaft for operating the poppet valves #can be greatly reduced in length and weight as well as to arrange for a better balance of stresses so as to reduce the weight of all associated parts employ fewer bearings for the camshaft;

8. To provide an arrangement whereby the stems of the poppet valves can be operated by a pushing action rather than a pulling action so as to provide for easy adjustability of the stems and thereby render it more simple to control the degree of opening of the valves as well as to compensate for any wear which may occur, and ingeneral to provide for greater compactness, acand reduction in manufacturing as well as maintenance costs.

How the foregoing objects, together with such other objects as may appear hereinafter, or are incident to our invention, are attained, is illustrated in the accompanying drawings which represent a typical and preferred embodiment designed especially for the softening of hard water.

Figure 1 is a. diagrammatic view of a base exchange water softening system which incorporates the several features of our invention with the valves and their controlling mechanism shown in the positions which they occupy during service operation of the system;

Figure la is a somewhat enlarged sectional view'illustrating the details of an injector which lcan be used to pick up the regenerating solution:

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 but illustrating kthe parts in the positons they occupy during wash position; l

Figure B is another view similar to Figures 1 and 2 but showing the parts in regenerating position;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figures 1, 2 and 3 but showing the parts in rinsing position;

Figure 5 is a section through the waste sump showing the valves which control the discharge of the wash water in the position which they occupy at the time that the washing operation is just beginning;

Figure 6 is aview similar to ,Figure 5 but showing the positions which the parts assume during `the height of the washing operation;

Figure 'I is a horizontal section through the two y let compartment Communication between poppet valves 22, 23

' Y anden f' valve units showing certain details of the struction; l

Figure 8 is a pla and Figure 9 is an elevational left of Figure 8. Y

Before proceeding to a detailed description of the drawings, we wish to note the fact Vthatin Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, the valve units are shown Vin a purely diagrammatic way for the sake of simplicity in illustration.

The water softening system which we have illustrated employs a base exchange filter I0, a brine tank Il and a waste sump I2 for connection to a sewer through the drain I3. The sump is divided into an inlet compartment I2a and an out- I2b which are separated from I4 through the bottom of view taken from the each other` by a weiry which is a relatively small drain passage I5, so

that the inlet compartment I2a may be completely emptied. However, the capacity of the passage I5 must not be so great as to prevent the compartment I2a from filling during a washing or rinsing operation as will further appear.

Theraw water comes in through the inlet i6, entering what we have termed the raw water receiving unit I1. This unit is mounted upon the base plate A and is receiving chamber proper I8 and a series of three distributing chambers I9, and 2i. (See Fig. '1.)

the chamber I8 and each of the distributing chambers is controlled by the seat against the members 22a, 23a and 24a as clearly indicated to best advantage in Figure 7. The valves, therefore, seat in the direction of flow and in addition we provide the coil springs 22h, 23h and 24h which react between the backs of the valves and the removable plug members 25, 26 and 21, the latter providing access to the valves and their seats.

The stems 0! the-PODpet valves 22, 23 and 24, indicated respectively by the reference characters 22e, 28e and 24o, project outwardly toward suitable openings in the wall 28 of the raw water receiving unit. Each of them nts into a bushing 29 which is screwed into an opening in the wall28 and in this bushing they abut against a tappet rod 38 which has an adjustable head in the form oi a screw 3l which is held in place by a locknut 82. Each of the separate tappets 30 is suitably packed as by the packing 33, gland 34 and knurled follower nut 85.

On the base plate A in close proximity to the raw water receiving unit we have arranged what we refer to as a water disposal unit 36 which unit, as will be seen, is separated from and entirely independent of the receiving unit so as to eliminate the possibility oi cross contamination as well as to provide for compactness and accessibility. The disposal unit has a disposal compartment 31 from which the softened water is delivered to the outlet pipe 88. Y

As illustrated in Figure 1, the circuit for the service water is established through the entrance chamber I8, past the valve 28 intoithe distributing chamber 28, then upwardly through the cover plate 89 into the T-pipe 48 and from thence through the pipe 4I to the top of the base exchange filter I9. After passing down through the base exchange material in the manner well known to this art, the hard water becomes softened and is collected near the bottom vat a point below the head of the base exchanging material passing outwardly through the pipe 42 which delivers tothe view oi the valveunits.

divided into an entrance or and 24 which are adapted to g 4 f receiving compartment in the water disposal Vunit 34. From the compartment 43y under the control of the poppet valve 44 the soft water passes into the disposal compartment 31 and thence to the service main 38, as already described.

After the service operation and before regeneration of the base exchange material, it is customary to wash the base exchange filter and the circuit for accomplishing this is diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 2. Raw water from the entrance chamber I8 passes into the distributing chamber 2i under the control of poppet valve 2'4. From the chamber 2i this raw water passes upwardly through another opening in the cover plate 39 and into the pipe receiving compartment 43 of the disposal unit 3B through the cover member 3Ba'thereof. At this time, as will further appear, valve 44 is closed and the wash water enters the pipe 42 and is delivered to the bottom of the base exchangenlter below the base exchanging material and then passes upwardly therethrough to come out' at the top through the pipe 4I which connects through the pipe pet valve 23 being closed as will more fully appear hereinafter. The pipe 46 delivers to the receiving compartment 41 from whence it passes to the .waste or disposal compartment 48 under the control of poppet valve ment 48 discharge to waste is effected through the pipe, which delivers to the receiving side I2a of thesump I2. Y l

The how of waste water is controlled in a special manner by means of the mechanism illustratedy in Figures 5 and 6 which, however, will be described in detail later on because it is desired to complete the description of the several circuits before entering into that phase of the invention.

When the washing operation is completed operation are illustrated in Figure 3. The raw water coming in through the entrance chamber I8 passes into the distributing chamber I9 under the control of valve 22 and from the chamber I9 it is carried by means of the pipe 5I to a junction with the pipe 52 coming from the regenerating solution or brine tank II. By means of an injector 52a, the brine solution is picked up by the water in whatever proportion is desired, passes through the check valve 53 .and then through the pipe 54 to a distributing manifold 55 located in the exchange filter III at a point above the base exchange bed. The brine then passes downwardly through the illter and at the same time the water trapped in the filter Ill is collected at the bottom, entering the pipe 42 and compartment 43 from whence it flows to disposal compartment 48 under the control of pOlJpet valve 5B. From the compartment 48, of course, it passes to waste pipe 50 and thence to the sump. After the regenerating step the filter is subjected to a rinsing operation which is eected in an improved manner as will now be described in connection with 45 which delivers to the the service poppetV 40 to the pipe 46, pop- Y 49. From the comparttrol of valve Il. From compartment 61 discharge to waste is eii'ected through the pipe Il which delivers into the receiving side I2a of the sump I2.

The three POPDet valves 22, 2.3 and 24 in the water receiving unit I'I, it will be seen. constitute one series of control valves with their stems projecting toward the actuating cam shaft 60. Arranged with their stems in opposing relationship is the other series of poppet valves 44, 49, 66 and` 66 in the water disposal unit 36. 'I'he stems of this other series of poppet valves are constructed, arranged and packed in exactly the same manner as are the stems in the first series so that a detailed description thereof will not be included.

From left to right, the cam shaft 60 is equipped with a series of cams 46', 22', 66', 23', 68', 24 and 44' which actuate, respectively, the valves 49, 22, 66, 23, 56, 24 and 44. 'I'he cam shaft is mounted in a series of three bearings 60a and the cam is rotated in any desired manner as by the pinion 6I and worm 62, power being supplied to the latter through the crank Il. In practice the cam shaft will be power driven and timed for operation to suit the needs of the installation but the details of this mechanism are not illustrated herein since, per se. they form no part of the present invention. Suillce it to say for the present disclosure that the various cams on the shaft 66 are contoured and positioned so as to open or permit closure of the various valves for periods of time and in the sequence necessary to establish the circuits already described which will be brleiiy summarlzed as follows. g

During service position of the parts as illustrated in Figure 1 the cam shaft will turn the cams 23' and 44 open kvalves 23 and 4I while all the rest of the cams will be moved to a position which permits all the other valves to close. In the wash position illustrated particularly in Figure 2 Ythe cam shaft will have turned to a position where the cams 24' and 49' have opened the valves 24 and 49 while all the rest of the cams are in positions which permit the balance of the valves to to the position necessary to.

v ceiving side I2a is filled remain in closed position. In the regenerating cycle of operation as illustrated particularly in Figure 3 the position of the cam shaft will cause cams 22' and 56' to open, respectively, the valves 22 and 56 while all the rest oi' the valves will remain in closed position. Finally, in the rinsing position illustrated particularly in Figure 4, the cam shaft will have been rotated to a position where cams 23 and Il' have opened valves 23 and 58 while the balance of the valves remain in closed position.

We will now describe the improved means which we have provided for controlling the iiow of the wash water and in this connection attention is directed particularly to Figures 2, 5 and 6. In equipment heretofore familiar to the art the washing step has frequently given rise to considerable diiilculty with the gravel and base exchange beds customarily employed in the filter I0. For example, during the washing step these beds have been seriously disturbed by a too rapid introduction of the wash water especially in the initial stages of the washing cycle. The beds are disturbed and upset so that excessive quantities of base exchange material and/or lter sand are carried out with the wash water and discharged from the unit virito the sewer. In addition, the finer layers of gravel are shifted or disturbed so as to permit the base exchange material and/or the filter sand to trickle down through the coarser layers of gravel which have remained more or less intact. When this occurs and the unit is again placed in service such fine particles are passed into the treated or softened water line. We overcome these dimculties in the following way.

In the lower end of the pipe 50 which discharges to waste through the inlet'side I 2a of the sump I2, we place two valves 64 and 65 in series. 'I'hese valves, preferably, are of the butterfly type as shown to best advantage in Figures 5 and 6. The valve 64 is controlled by a float 64a and the valve 65 by a float 65a.

The lower valve 65 is constructed so that it willpas-s a relatively small amount of water even when the valve is substantially closed and provision for this can be effected in any desired manner as by making the valve a loose i'lt in the pipe orlby drilling a small hole 65h in the iin of the valve.

At the beginning of the washing operation, of

course, both sides ot the sump I2 are empty, the inlet side I2a draining to the waste pipe I3 through the opening I5 at the bottom of the weir I4. When the washing cycle is begun both floats will be in their lower positions (Fig. 5) with the first valve 64 open and the second valve 66 closed except for the relatively small ow which can take place either through the openings 65h or past the valve itself in accordance with the description already given. 'I'his disposition of the valves will prevent a sudden flow or surge of a large volume of water through the filter Ill because all the water that can pass out .through the waste pipeSIl is that relatively tity which iiows through` the port 65h. The flow past the valve 65, however, must be greater than the flow through the drain I5 under the weir I4 so that the inlet compartment. I 2a of the sump can slowly fill with water. As it ll-s the floats 64a and 66a will rise and as they rise the valve 64 will be moved towardv a closed position while the valve 66 will be moved toward its fully open position. This operation proceeds until the rewith water .and a predetermined volume of flow takes place over the top of the Weir I4 as indicated at 66 in Figure 6. It will be understood, of course, that this volume may be as large as necessary but at no time will it have been attained by a sudden surge but only by a gradual opening of the valve 65 in proper correlation to a partial closing of the valve 64.

For any given installation experience will quickly demonstrate what volume of water should pass over the weir I4 in order to eiect the washing operation in the time and with the'thoroughness desired while at the same time avoiding excessive or troublesome disturbances of the gravel and water softening beds.

Our invention alsocontemplates an improved method of controlling the flow during a rinsing operation such as is illustrated particularly in A Figure 4. In order to avoid passing the brine too rapidly through the exchange material which is exceedingly wasteful of brine. we cut down the rate of fiowduring the rinsing operation by 'effecting discharge to waste through an entirely separate and very much smaller waste pipe 69 as already described. As will be seen in Figure 7, the valve which controls the pipe 59 is of very much smaller diameter than the other valves in the controlling system. In fact, the capacity of the valve 56 and the pipe 69 is gensmall quan- In addition.

7 erally kept at approximately one-third the rate of ilow through the wash pipe 99 and valve B9. there is a float controlled valve 91 in the pipe 99 which will permit a much less volume of flow over the weir than does the double valve -control for the pipe il.

The mechanism within the two water units I1 and 39 is made readily accessi-ble simply by removing the cover plates 39 and 39a which. as indicated in Figure 8, are secured in position by the studs 69. Furthermore, the covers can be so removed by breaking only one pipe joint, namely a joint in the pipe 4l, which can be located immediately adjacent the T-pipe l0 or slightly to one side of the unit l1. The sections -of pipe 40, 45 and 48 and the section of pipe Il, i1' the joint is provided at the side of the unit I1, can all remain in position on the cover plates 39 and 39a so that the cover plates` and these sections of pipe are all handled and removed or replaced as a unit.

In conclusion, we wish to refer briey to the various advantages which are secured by our invention. The division of the controlling valves for the various circuits into two series which are independently housed yields a. degree of compactness, accessibility and convenience not heretofore attained in any of the prior structures with which we are familiar. In addition, it makes possible the employment of lighter weight castings and the use of a shorter and lighter weight cam shaft as well as of fewer bearings for the latter. lFurthermore, the stresses imposed on the cam shaft are in better balance by virtue of the opposed arrangement of the two series of poppet valves. Our improvements also make possible the' employmerit of an arrangement wherein the stems of the poppet valves lare pushed to effect an opening operation rather than pulled, which in turn makes possible the very simple adjustable stem feature which we have disclosed.

The division of the valve control mechanism into two units also reduces to an absolute minimum all possibility of cross contamination between the various ow circuits, which is particularly valuable insofar as the regenerating circuit is concerned. By our invention we pick up the regenerating solution on the way to the treating unit so that the fresh solution is never passed through any of the valves in the. control units. Instead only the spent solution ever reaches the valve mechanism and even this is handled through an entirely independent valve and a separate pipe, namely the valve 59 and the `pipe 59.

At the same time that all of the foregoing advantages are secured our invention also makes possible the employment of a central control mechanism for all of the fluid circuits wherein all of the valves are operated by a single cam shaft. This is a feature of great importance to the successful operation of our improved base exchange water treating equipment.

We claim:

l. lrrbase exchange water treating equipment. flow control mechanism comprising a raw-water receiving unit; a water disposal unit adjacent to but separated from the raw water receiving unit; a series of poppet controlling valves in each of said water units with the valve operating stems of the two series arranged in opposed re-' lationship; and a cam shaft lying between and adapted to open all of said valves in the required combinations and sequence.

2. In base exchange water treating equipment,

' flow control mechanism comprising a valve unit for receiving and directing the flow of the incoming raw water: a separate valve unit for delivering wash water and treated water and for effecting discharge to waste of wash water, spent regenerating solution and rinse water; a series of poppet valves in each valve unit; and a valve actuating cam shaft lying between said valve units in position to control al1 of the poppet valves in both units.

3. The equipment of claim stems are adjustable.

4. The equipment of claim 1 wherein stems are adjustable.

5. Equipment according to claim 1 wherein the water units are each provided with a removable cover plate through which connection between units is effected.

6. Equipment according to claim 1 wherein the water units are each provided with a removable cover plate through which connection between units is effected and wherein the cover plates with their interconnection are removable as a unit without disturbing the poppet valves or the cam shaft.

7. Equipment according to claim l wherein said poppet valves close in the direction of flow.

8. Equipment according to claim i wherein said poppet valves close in the direction of flow and are opened by pushing on the valve stems.

9. In base exchange water treating equipment having a base exchange illter and a regenerat- 2 wherein the valve the valve ing solution supply unit; flow control mechanism comprising. a raw water receiving unit; a water disposal unit adjacent to but separated from the raw water supply unit; connections between the raw water supply unit and the top of the base exchange filter, the regenerating solution supply unit and the water disposal. unit; poppet valves controlling said connections; a connection between the water disposal unit and the bottom of the base exchange filter; a connection between the disposal unit and a point of waste; a connection between the disposal unit and a service line; poppet valves in said disposal unit for controlling each of said disposal unit connections; a cam shaft lying between the raw water'supply unit and the water disposal unit; and cams on said cam shaft for opening all of said poppet valves inthe required combinations and sequence.

10. In base exchange water softening equipment having .an exchange filter, a regenerating solution supply tank and a waste pipe; flow control mechanism comprising a raw water supply unit; a water disposal unit; a series of connections between said units and the filter, regenerating solution tank and waste pipe; a connection betweenthe two water units; a seriesv of poppet valves in each unit for controlling said connections with the stems of the valves in one unit arranged in opposition tothe stems of the valves -in the other unit; and a cam shaft lying between said units in position to actuate said.

charge connection oi substantially less capacity than the Wash water discharge connection for delivering spent regenerating material to the receiving side of the sump, valve means `for each of said discharge connections, and means for controlling said valve means in accordance with the level oi.' the liquid in the receiving chamber of the sump.

12. In base exchange water treating equipment where the wash water is passed upwardly through the exchange filter, the combination of a wash water sump, a pipe for discharging the wash water into said sump, a drain from the sump, a weir across which the vwater must flow before passing out through the drain, a pair of valves arranged serially in the pipe, and means for controlling said valves by the level of the water in the sump, the final valve being substantially but not quite closed and the rst valve being open when the sump is empty and said final valve being opened and the first valve being partially closed as the sump illls with water, whereby a substantially constant volume of ow across the top of the Weir and thence to the drain may be established and maintained.

13. In base exchange Water treating equipment the combination of a base exchange filter, a connection for passing wash water into the filter below the exchange material, a connection for withdrawing the wash water from the filter above the exchange material, a wash water sump, a connection for delivering the withdrawn wash water into the sump, a drain from the sump, a Weir separating the receiving side of the sump from the drain side, valve means in the delivery pipe constructed to pass a relatively small volume of water when the receiving side of the sump is empty, a iloat adapted to open said valve gradually as the receiving side of the sump fills with water, a second valve means in the delivery pipe in advance of said first valve means, said second`valve means being open when the receiving side of the sump is empty, and a second float adapted to close said second valve partially as the wash water rises in the receiving side, whereby a substantially `constant volume of flow across the top of ,the Y drain may be established weir and thence to the l and maintained.

14. In water treating equipment, flow control mechanism comprising a raw water receiving unit having an entrance chamber and a series o! distributing chambers at one side thereof; a water disposal unit adjacent to but spaced from saidv receiving unit, said disposal unit having a receiving compartment and a series o! disposal compartments at the side thereof which i'aces the series of distributing chambers in the raw water receiving unit; an opening between said entrance chamber and each of said distributing chambers and betwee'n said receiving compartment and each of said disposal compartments; a poppet valve for controlling each of vsaid openings arranged with its stem projecting into ,the space between said water units, all of said valves being adapted to seat in a direction toward said space;

and a. cam shaft lying between and adapted to unit, said disposal unit having a receiving compartment and a series of disposal compartments at the side thereof which faces the series of distributing chambers in the raw water receiving unit; an opening between said entrance chamber and each of said distrbuting chambers andbetween said receiving compartment and each of said disposal compartments; a valve for controlling each of said openings, an operating stem for each of said valves arranged to project into the space between said water units; operating mechanism in said space adapted to open all of said valves in the required combinations and sequences; connections between the raw water supply unit and the top of the base exchange filter, the regenerating material supply unit and the water disposal unit, the connection with the regenerating material supply unit being connected also to the top of the base exchange filter whereby raw water is enabled to convey regenerating material to the base exchange illter; a connection between the water disposal unit and the bottom of the base exchange filter; a con- ,nection between the disposal unit and a point of waste; and a service line connection to the disposal unit.

` 16. Flow control mechanism in accordance with claim 15'wherein the valves are poppet valves arranged to seat in the direction of fluid iiow and wherein the operating mechanism is a cam shaft lying in the space between the units.

CHURCHILL HUNGERFORD, J n. JOHN G. REUTTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

'UNITED STATES PATENTS Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,460,011.

It is hereby certified that errors appear in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Column 3, line 74, for the Word head read bed; column 10, line 18, claim 15,

lf or distrbuting read distributing; line 26, same claim, for sequences read sequence;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Oflce.

Signed and sealed this 31st day of May, A. D. 1949.

[SEAL] THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Commissioner of Patents.

January 25, 1949. CHURCHILL HUNGERFORD, JR., ET AL. 

